Childhood malnutrition and hypo mineralized  molar defects ;a cross sectional study, Egypt

Background: Malnutrition is well-known to yield high morbidities and it has pre-eruptive and post-eruptive consequences. The objective of the study was to evaluate the prevalence of Hypomineralized Second Primary Molars (HSPM), Molar Incisor Hypomineralization (MIH) and dental caries in malnourished children, as well as addressing the relation between types of malnutrition and the dental morbidities. Methods: This is a cross sectional analytical study. A consecutive sample of 54 malnourished cases aged 5-10 years and presented to the Outpatient Clinic of Pediatric Dentistry Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Cairo University across 6 months period were examined for HSPM, MIH – using the European Academy of Pediatric Dentistry criteria - and dental Caries using def/ DMF indices. Outcomes were the presence or absence of MIH and HSPM and their levels measured as percentage as well as Caries Indices. Exposures were types of malnutrition and the socioeconomic status. Results : The mean age of study participants was 7.10 ± 1.34 years. HSPM and MIH were found in 47.2% and 45.2% of the study participants respectively, while dental caries was observed in 83% and 64.3% for primary and permanent teeth respectively. There was co-occurrence between HSPM and MIH in 39% of the cases. HSPM level was significantly different in various types of malnutrition. It showed significant difference between the stunted group (median HSPM of 14.2%) and the overweight or obese group (median HSPM of 0.0%) (P value 0.01). MIH level showed significant differences between the stunted group (median MIH of 19.4%) and overweight or obese group (median MIH of 0.0%) (p value 0.001), as well as between the stunted group (median MIH of 19.4%) and wasted group (median MIH of 0.0%) (p value 0.025). Conclusions : Malnourished children have high prevalence of dental abnormalities. HSPM could expect the presence of MIH.